Freitag, 6. Dezember 2013

GFNY (Gran Fondo New York) BIKE “PROTOS” BY DE ROSA

De Rosa Protos

News by Campagnolo Gran Fondo New York:

In 1990 I bought my first road bike. Back then, frames were either built of Columbus SL(X) or Reynolds tubing. Columbus was getting the better reviews at the time so that’s what it had to be for me. There were two frames that I really desired: an Eddy Merckx and a De Rosa.

De Rosa seemed to be only available with Campagnolo which did not (yet) have “index shifting”. Shifters were still on the down tube but Shimano managed to build them so that you had seven exact positions on the shifter. Yes, seven, for all seven gears we had. As a junior racer, I was only allowed 50/14 as a maximum gear ratio so we kept it simple: 14-21 (no 20). Index shifting was a revolution, because before – and still with Campagnolo – you had to dial in the gear with “feel”. While that was no issue on training rides, it was quite challenging in a hectic race situation. Long story short: I wanted Shimano 600 and went for the Merckx.